St. Edmund's College

Last week I was inaugurated as a visiting scholar at St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University. We first got to enjoy a chapel service with the Fellows of the college,  where everyone was dressed in full academic regalia. This was followed by "high table" where Melissa and I dined at the head table with the Fellows of the college (where we sat right across from the Master).  It was very much like the dining scenes at Hogwarts in Harry Potter (except there were no owls!).   We had a great time enjoying a sophisticated and elegant Cambridge experience.   See the picture below right before we left:

Angela's visit

On Saturday, our good friend Angela came to visit.  I knew she was here when I heard Kate squeal with delight, "Miss Angela!!".  We had a great time getting to share Cambridge with her.  We rode bikes, visited Pubs, went to Evensong at King's College, picked apples at the Orchard and spent time catching up on life in Charlotte and Uptown church.  We spent her last day in London, shopping in markets and stores all over the city.

The bookstore from the movie Notting Hill - we just happened upon it while shopping there:

John's Birthday

October 8th we celebrated John's 6th birthday.  A gas station in the city just next to ours has some American products that we can't get here(chocolate chips, Kraft Mac n Cheese, pretzels, etc).  Of course, they are all sold for a ridiculous price (a box of Mac n Cheese costs around $5).  So it was a big deal for John to get to have Pop Tarts for breakfast, Kraft Mac n Cheese for lunch and pizza for dinner, followed by a cookie cake with friends.  He had a great day!

Presents at breakfast:

His new knight costume:

The neighborhood kids came over to share in the cookie cake.  It was John's first "all-girl" birthday party.

Lego Land

John's birthday is on Thursday and he wanted a family party.  We found out that Lego Land Windsor is only about two hours away, so we decided to take him there for a special celebration.  He loved it - Legos are his favorite toy and they were everywhere.  

Here is miniature land.  Everything was made of legos - the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben.  It was pretty amazing.

Our favorite in Miniature Land was the Lego replication of Edinburgh - it was spot on (to use a good British phrase).

It rained all day, despite a clear forecast.  However, the Aero hot chocolate kept us warm!

Emma just finished reading the Harry Potter series, so she was very excited to find both Harry and Hagrid at LegoLand.

Star Wars + Legos = Bliss for John John!

Opa and Grandma come to Cambridge

This past week, Mike's parents, Opa & Grandma came to visit.  The kids were so excited.  We spent the morning before their arrival picking blackberries.  We picked around 4 lbs altogether and made them a cobbler for after dinner and fresh blackberry jam for their scones in the morning.

    

We took them for lunch in the Orchard:

      
     
     

We also took them to Hedingham Castle.  It was also a Norman castle, built around 1140.
     

       

     

     

John's quote:  "Mommy, what happened to the poor little bunny?"  If you can see in the background, the bunny is being sawed in two pieces for cooking.  Once again, these British castles show what life was really like before the modern grocery store.
    

This morning, they headed on to France to visit the beaches at Normandy.  They left behind some sad grandkids!

 

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes

Kate has found her first Prince Charming:

Cooking Out

Every Friday evening at Tyndale House we grill out with other families studying there.  The kids run around and play while the adults chat with one another while sharing a meal.  It has been a great way for us to get to know people.  This past Friday, they built a small bonfire for the kids to roast marshmallows.